Liberal politics reign over Texas social studies

Liberal politics reign over social studies curriculum

JONATHAN SAENZ, HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
May 6, 2010

The debate over Texas social studies is out of control again. The liberal left is up to its usual political games, trying to distort the truth and silence the voices of thousands of Texans, including numerous teachers and parents, who have called, e-mailed and testified before the State Board of Education (SBOE). One Texas editorial even compared the majority of the SBOE members to the Taliban.

Why? It's all about politics. The board is made up of 10 Republicans and five Democrats who are elected by the citizens of Texas. That is a problem for members of the liberal left, who see the public school system as the best way to radically change the course of our nation by changing the worldview of the next generation and by distorting our history. Finally, after four public hearings and more than 14 months of review and discussion, they have confessed their true motivation: to control what our kids are taught in school by keeping some teachers, parents and the democratic process out.

Here's proof: The national American Civil Liberties Union has now jumped into the fray, trying to force its left-wing version of Texas social studies into the state's curriculum guide and supporting demands that the board delay its final vote on the standards, currently scheduled for later this month. The ACLU wants the board to wait until January 2011, after the November elections, to take a final vote on social studies curriculum standards, hoping there will be more liberal representation on the board. What's more political than that?

How about using Thomas Jefferson as a political pawn? Jefferson was never removed from the social studies standards. Instead of talking about his political philosophies in world history, students will learn about them in U.S. government. Jefferson is covered in three other social studies sections as well. The liberal left knows this but was desperate for a message and a headline and distorted the facts about Jefferson to push their agenda, and their media friends were happy to play along.

The truth is that, for more than a year, Texans have been speaking out against attempts to remove or diminish important historical figures, celebrations, concepts and symbols like Neil Armstrong, Albert Einstein, Christmas, Independence Day, the Liberty Bell and religious heritage. Texans have also insisted that our history books reflect America accurately and not in a predominantly negative light. Thank God the State Board of Education took the time to notice such frightening proposals and misguided versions of history and social studies, and rightly struck them down.

Many of the unelected reviewers who recommended these wild proposals, such as removing Armstrong or Christmas, are lauded by the left as credentialed and experts. One such professor thinks the first man on the moon (Armstrong) and the man who invented the telephone (Alexander Graham Bell) should be removed from the standards and that the most famous world explorer (Columbus) should be talked about less. The State Board of Education's role is to be a check on such nonsense, and it rightly stepped in to reject these proposals.

To any reasonable person, this all looks like a diverse list of notable persons, organizations and belief systems. But that's not enough for members of the liberal left, who want social studies skewed in their favor — long on politically correct jargon, short on facts.

The State Board of Education, countless educators, parents and the general public have weighed in on the social studies issue for more than a year. This process has taken longer than the five months the Texas Legislature is in session, and the Texas State Board of Education has represented the people of Texas well.

It's time to drop the political games and to complete the social studies adoption process this month, as scheduled. Save the campaign speeches for the November elections. And thanks to a majority vote of the State Board of Education members, Texas students will now learn the importance of “holding public officials to their word,” a standard covered, appropriately, in first grade.